Charitable giving takes many forms, from monthly direct debits and cash gifts to donated goods, shares, and emergency appeals. The latest figures below show the scale and direction of giving in the United Kingdom, alongside U.S. tax-return statistics for noncash contributions. Amounts are estimates where the source describes them as estimates, and the measurement periods and geographies are kept explicit.
Contents
- How much people donate
- How donors give and maintain recurring gifts
- Which causes receive donations
- Who donates and what motivates giving
- Appeals, local giving, and trust
- U.S. noncash charitable donations
How much people donate
The Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) estimated that the UK public donated £15.4 billion to charity in 2024. The same report estimated a mean monthly donation of £72, and half of UK adults said they had donated money to charity during the previous 12 months. (UK Giving 2025)
Earlier CAF estimates put UK public donations at £13.9 billion in 2023 and £12.7 billion in 2022. The estimates were £11.3 billion in 2021, £10.7 billion in 2020, and £10.6 billion in 2019. The 2023 report also recorded a mean monthly donation of £65. (UK Giving Report 2024)
| UK measure | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Estimated public donations | £10.6bn | £10.7bn | £11.3bn | £12.7bn | £13.9bn | £15.4bn |
| Mean monthly donation | — | — | — | — | £65 | £72 |
The £15.4 billion figure should be read with an important measurement qualification. CAF’s 2025 report says its donation-recall method changed for 2024, so the resulting total is not directly comparable with prior years. These figures describe annual UK estimates, not a single administrative count of every donation. (UK Giving 2025; UK Giving Report 2024)
How donors give and maintain recurring gifts
Among UK people who donated or sponsored in the past four weeks, direct debit or standing order was used by 47% in 2024. Debit, credit, or contactless cards were used by 36%, while cash was used by 28%. CAF also recorded PayPal or another payment service at 11%, text or SMS at 10%, and bank transfer at 8%. Around 2% reported using payroll giving. These are donation-method shares among the specified recent-giving group, and the categories are not presented as mutually exclusive. (UK Giving 2025)
| Donation method used by recent UK donors or sponsors | Share in 2024 |
|---|---|
| Direct debit or standing order | 47% |
| Debit, credit, or contactless card | 36% |
| Cash | 28% |
| PayPal or another payment service | 11% |
| Text or SMS | 10% |
| Bank transfer | 8% |
| Payroll giving | Around 2% |
Recurring giving was also substantial in absolute terms. Direct-debit and standing-order donations were estimated at £2.68 billion in the UK in 2024. Around 8.2 million people reported donating through one of those methods in any given month. At the same time, around 3.9 million people said they cancelled a regular charity payment during 2024, while around 3.3 million said they increased a direct debit or standing order to charity. (UK Giving 2025)
These figures describe different reported experiences: using a method, maintaining a regular payment, cancelling one, or increasing one. They should not be combined into a net change in recurring donors without additional data.
Which causes receive donations
Health charities received an estimated £2.22 billion from UK public donations in 2024, the largest listed cause amount. Children and young people’s charities received £1.99 billion. Religious organizations received £1.23 billion, and animal-welfare charities received £1.08 billion. (UK Giving 2025)
Environmental protection or improvement causes received an estimated £705 million. That makes environmental giving a substantial part of the measured landscape, alongside £853 million for disability charities and £719 million for arts, culture, heritage, or science causes. Elderly-people causes received £701 million. (UK Giving 2025)
Other listed 2024 UK cause amounts included £658 million for overseas aid and disaster relief, £603 million for homelessness, housing, and refuge-shelter causes, and £595 million for education. Poverty-relief causes received £496 million, while mental-health causes and foodbanks each received £428 million. Human-rights, equality, and diversity causes received £219 million. (UK Giving 2025)
| Selected UK cause | Estimated public donations in 2024 |
|---|---|
| Health | £2.22bn |
| Children and young people | £1.99bn |
| Religious organizations | £1.23bn |
| Animal welfare | £1.08bn |
| Disability | £853m |
| Arts, culture, heritage, or science | £719m |
| Environmental protection or improvement | £705m |
| Elderly people | £701m |
CAF’s cause figures are estimates from annual survey reporting. They indicate the estimated value associated with listed cause areas in 2024; they are not a complete audited ranking of every organization or a measure of program effectiveness. (UK Giving 2025)
Who donates and what motivates giving
Health charities were supported by 43% of UK donors in 2024. Among UK volunteers who gave their time, 18% supported health charities. The donor and volunteer measures describe different groups, so the percentages should be read separately. (UK Giving 2025)
Donation methods varied by age. Among UK donors aged 16–24, buying goods was a donation method for 25% in 2024, and a fundraising app or website was a method for 22%. Among donors aged 65 and over, direct debit or standing order was a method for 56%, while a charity lottery was a method for 29%. (UK Giving 2025)
Concern for the cause was reported as a motivation by 49% of UK donors aged 16–24 and 62% of donors aged 65 and over. Social media prompted the most recent charity donation for 6% of UK donors overall, rising to 12% among 16–24-year-olds. A celebrity or well-known person prompted the most recent donation for 1% of UK donors. (UK Giving 2025)
These results show both shared and age-specific patterns: caring about the cause was reported in both age groups, while the measured methods included goods and fundraising platforms for younger donors and regular payments and charity lotteries for older donors. The figures are survey responses for 2024, not predictions of future behavior.
Appeals, local giving, and trust
In 2024, 31% of UK donors responded to a charity appeal during the previous 12 months. CAF estimated that this represented 8.9 million people. Among donors who responded to appeals, international or overseas emergency appeals reached 23%, while national emergency appeals reached 9%. (UK Giving 2025)
The destination of giving also included both national and local organizations. Seventy-five percent of UK donors gave at least some donations to national charities in the previous 12 months, while 63% gave at least some donations to local charities. Thirty-six percent gave money to local community organizations. Because respondents could give to more than one type of organization, these percentages are not shares of one fixed total. (UK Giving 2025)
Trust was distributed mainly between the middle and upper response categories. Sixteen percent of UK adults described most charities as very trustworthy in 2024, and 61% described most charities as somewhat trustworthy. These measures capture public perceptions of charities generally, rather than an assessment of a particular organization. (UK Giving 2025)
U.S. noncash charitable donations
U.S. tax-return data provides a different view of charitable giving: noncash contributions reported through tax forms, rather than all donations. For tax year 2023, an estimated 6.2 million U.S. individual tax returns claimed a noncash charitable deduction on Schedule A. Taxpayers filed 2.8 million returns with Form 8283, and the amount carried from Form 8283 to Schedule A totaled $93.7 billion. (Individual Noncash Charitable Contributions, Tax Year 2023)
The average U.S. noncash donation amount per Form 8283 return was about $33,545 for tax year 2023. Corporate stock donations accounted for 57.7% of the noncash charitable amount carried to Schedule A, totaling $54.1 billion. Donor-advised funds received $27.2 billion, or 29.0% of the U.S. noncash charitable amount, in the same tax year. (Individual Noncash Charitable Contributions, Tax Year 2023)
Taxpayer income was another reported dimension. U.S. taxpayers with adjusted gross income above $10 million donated $45.7 billion in noncash contributions in tax year 2023. This statistic concerns reported noncash contributions in the IRS dataset, not the total charitable giving of every U.S. taxpayer or every type of donation. (Individual Noncash Charitable Contributions, Tax Year 2023)
| U.S. noncash measure | Tax year 2023 |
|---|---|
| Returns claiming a noncash deduction on Schedule A | Estimated 6.2m |
| Returns with Form 8283 | 2.8m |
| Amount carried from Form 8283 to Schedule A | $93.7bn |
| Average per Form 8283 return | About $33,545 |
| Share represented by corporate stock | 57.7% |
| Corporate stock amount | $54.1bn |
| Donor-advised fund amount | $27.2bn |
The UK and U.S. figures are useful for different questions. CAF’s UK estimates describe public donations and survey-reported behavior, including recurring gifts, causes, appeals, and trust. The IRS figures describe U.S. individual tax-return reporting for noncash donations on Form 8283 and Schedule A. The IRS dataset does not represent all charitable giving, and the CAF 2024 total is not directly comparable with earlier UK totals because the donation-recall method changed. (UK Giving 2025; Individual Noncash Charitable Contributions, Tax Year 2023)